So one convention is done and over with. Wow, it was a lot of fun! Thousands of times better than last year! The only problem I had was shared with about everyone else, the setting.

It took two buildings. One only took it's basement floor, the other took the underground parking garage (which became the dealer's room), and three levels. It was a nicely designed place, but it only took a glance to see that conventions like the one I was in- was not meant to be. Lifts and escalators were crowded. I felt bad for those who were confined to wheelchairs- so I kept myself to the backstair ways in an attempt to make things easier. Exercise is good for you!

For the first two days my sister was the 6th Doctor, and on the last she gave in to my wishes and became Liechtenshein.

There was one other Lithuanian other than myself. We were about equal in quality of costume. She was quiet, but witty. One of her friends had dressed up as Belarus, and had decided to cling to me during the history quiz. "Belarus, you broke my heart like you broke my fingers!"

Yes, the APH panel had a history quiz (how could it be without one?). It was to help distract us while the technician figured out what was wrong with the speakers. Unfortunately, I never got to answer the questions I knew. Making me look like a fool compared to the others. Ah! How can I remember the name of every freaking peace treaty?!? D8

There were about 5 Russias there. I could just imagine Toris crying inside. There was one guy who had the faucet cane, which was cool. Another girl had a foam knife, which was used on me repeatedly. She was a very cuddly individual, I wish I had more time to talk to her.

Speaking of time- my God, no one had time. There were so many good panels happening at once. I would have to leave in the middle of one to get to another. And there are the panels you would have to get in line for that wouldn't start until an hour later.

What I found really cool during this convention was the diversity. I may have been lucky and just missed it, but there was no overwhelming fandom. There was OHSHC, Sailor Moon, FMA, D.Grey-man, OP, DN, Pkmn, FF7 and Soul Eater, etc. But there wasn't fifty Narutos running around, hardly any Ichigos. I only saw two Winrys. Heck, I even saw some K-on, Mushishi and Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei!

Even when it came to games like 'Story Story Die', where three or more people (which always ended up five or more) do a round-robin fanfic crack story, hardly anyone was familiar with the same fandom. It made for some difficult take offs, but I was so pleased to see that manga and anime was clearly no longer viewed as just a silly kid's thing.

Diversity at an anime convention! I never thought it was possible!

Another big thing that came to me was the thoughtfulness. All of the other past years I had gone to this, there were people who just so caught up in the excitement they do not realize their impact on others. That for some reason, going to a convention is like being on 2/4chan, and that you can say and do what you want.

I didn't get any of that! Each bump or clash done was filled with apologies and making sure everyone was alright. When I couldn't reach an art book and the owner of the stall was too busy, a fellow conventioneer came up and pulled it off the shelf for me. She even stayed so she could put it back! One of the security directors of the hotel purposely chose this weekend to have FUN while working. 8)

Doujinshi sold so fast at this convention, which pleased me because I have future plans to make some of my own for next year. I also won an art contest! The problem is that in the midst of all of the confusion, I don't know which two pieces of art that I submitted won. XD Either one, it really fed my ego. The pictures I submitted took about thirty minuets.

Aside from convention, I'm thinking of getting a livejournal and a Tegaki E account. I probably would've done so earlier, but I'm so bad at remembering passwords. I can't even remember what my password is for this site! O_o; That REALLY isn't smart. I guess that means I must step to the DA FAQ and see what I can do about it before it becomes a problem.

Wishing everyone well!

*you are about to read something written in the mist of excitement, sorry if this reads boring/annoyingly*

It has been so long since a September has gotten me incredibly eager. Even though there have been plenty of reasons to be in the past. I normally don't feel the energy until it's the actual day itself or I am actually at the event. I'm actually shaking, and nothing happened yet! It's really weird! Or maybe I forgot my pills, one or the other. XD

My dad's back in the game, he still can't remember the day where he forgot everything except for the spinal tap examination (what a crappy thing to remember!). But he's working and kicking metaphorical ass. We watched "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog" and "La Cage aux Folles". Like the majority of people, I had first seen the English remake, "The Birdcage" and I was very curious as to how different it was from the original...

There was hardly any difference! I was mentally cheering throughout the entire film! So few movies/shows/comics/etc that when remade for a different country have their plots kept intact. But this wasn't just plot- lines and even those wondrous the screams from Albin to Albert (see? even the name are held in the same spirit!) are there. I now hold deep respect for whoever decided to make the English remake. Thank you for believing in the story and not changing it for fear of culture shock!

Change of subject!

In store for this month is going to have birthdays and and possibly two conventions (one is for certain, the other is unknown). Mum more than likely is just going to be wearing shirts worshiping Spike Spiegel and Hatake Kakashi. Dad is either doing something Harry Potter-ish or Trigun.

As much as I'm all for everyone cosplaying whatever they like (conventions are firstly fun before serious business ), I always deeply respected people who type/body casted themselves. They don't just dress up as one of their favorite characters, they dress up as someone they actually look like. To the point where it seems that's what the character would look like if they were ever done 3D/realistically. I've always wanted to do that, and I think I have found my chance this year.

Toris Lorinaitis from Axis Power Hetalia. Except for freckles, eye colour, and more eyebrow I've basically got him down body type. But for costume- wow, what a challenge! Lithuanian stuff just doesn't exist around where I live. Even specialty army stores who knew what I was asking for didn't even store anything close to what I wanted (one man asked if I would rather have a Russian gas mask to make up for it!). So I had to go from scratch. It's taken several weeks, and I'm really close to having it done! I'm nervous that it's going to be too big for me or that I will forget an important detail like an insignia or something. I want to give my best for this. Especially if I come across any fellow fans-

Actually, I should change my last sentence, because I just found out that the convention I'm going to has a special APH panel. Which means more than thirty percent of the people going to this convention are APH fans. It feels really weird! I knew it had gotten popular (hello internet), but I didn't realize HOW popular. Everyone that I have ever cosplayed in the past was either something simple (Red Shirt from Star Trek) or something not so well known (Horo from Spice and Wolf / Crowley from Good Omens). Talk about pressure! I'm probably going to have competition with other Lithuanians! XD

Another change of subject!

I've got college classes coming up, some to my liking (Jazz dance, ancient history) and others not so much (hello math, WE MEET AGAIN). I've downloaded GIMP's freeware GAP, which is their animation program. I hope I'm smart enough to figure it out. I love the medium, so I will see if it's something I'd like to pursue as a career/hobby. And lastly, I really need to pick up on my practicing. In my foreign languages, music, my left hand and art. I really need to update more here! The internet is the closest thing I have to a constant art critiquer because everyone else who I live nearby just says "It's good!" No! Please rip my art apart! I need to improve!

...Wow, this must be the longest Journal I've ever written. Sorry for babbling! It's been awhile since I've been in a positive mood and I felt like sharing it. Sorry if that ruined your day! XD

Wishing everyone well and a good September!

=EDIT=

Bad news: No way jacket is going to be finished in time.
Good news: It's going to be too hot to wear it anyway.

Until then, I must study my Lithuanian history. I have to get in character!

I'm sorry, I'm really horrible at this updating journal thing. Well, at least I know I don't clog people's message boards...

Some of you are aware (most of you are probably not), one day in the early morning my dad suddenly had amnesia. It was very surreal, and pretty scary. But it was mainly scary because when it happened I had no idea what was going on, and it took a long time for the hospital to come to the conclusion it did. While they are still not sure what it might be, I'm really hoping it is Transient Global Amnesia because that means my dad will be back to normal, and it will be highly unlikely for it to happen again.

Because it was (possibly) Transient, he still had his personality while he couldn't remember anything else. Which made for some sadly humorous moments when he discovered that Bush was no longer the US president. He was so happy... again. XD

However, of all things he did forget, he didn't forget his fear of needles. Which mum and I were pretty bummed about. I mean, if he HAD to forget SOMETHING- especially at the hospital. After a really long day, dad started recalling. There were a few blips here and there, and he doesn't remember that morning at all, but dad is still dad and he's healthy and alive. ^_^

And what makes this week even more amazing, was that despite all what happened, dad kept the promise he gave me months and months back about seeing Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea, Miyazaki's newest movie! At this time I didn't even care about seeing it, and even though he's felt like crap from all the testing he had gone through he went with it anyway.

The movie was wonderful. I was in near tears from the perfect translation and no censoring. Names, honor suffixes and soundtrack were kept wonderfully (except for the weird pop song at the end credits, wtf decided to add that?). I am so glad that Studio Ghibli has the contract it has with Disney. My favorite character is easily Fujimoto, Ponyo's dad. My only issue was with whoever did the voice of Sōsuke. Most parts were done well but some scenes fell flat.

Despite all of this I still have horrible communication issues with my dad. I can say whatever I want to my mum, I have no problems. But with my dad, even during times like these words die on my tongue. Which is bogus, I love the man. I want to show my appreciation somehow if not through words, but I can't think of anything good...

In other news, this month I've been cleaning out one of the rooms in my basement because somewhere something is leaking. This week I'm babysitting a dear friend's dog. And this weekend I will (hopefully) be helping other wonderful friends with their move to a new house.

Things have been difficult, but I guess it's a good kind of difficult. I mean, things could have gone so much worse. But if what happened to my dad's brain is the worst thing this month, I should consider myself lucky.

I hope everyone is doing well, and continues to do so.

This Mother's day, my dad is taking mum out to see the new Star Trek movie. *sniff!* I'm so blessed to be born in this family!

Anyways...

Hey, it's been awhile! To those who do not know me personally are probably wondering why I haven't updated my gallery. It's because I've been updating my FF.net account. BURN. Well, that and living real life. I'm hoping to get a job before schools are let out so I don't get butted out by some lucky kid.

This month has been way busier than I even planned. Hell, this year has been really awkward. It just started and a lot of people I knew either really personally or casually have dropped dead. Normally I try going to the funerals, gatherings or what have you but I had to say no to the last ones.

But after all of that, it definitely encourages me to try to see my not so dead friends. I know I'm basically a hermit and I'm lousy at emails and call backs, but I do want to see everyone.

Just in case you didn't get enough happy greetings about the new year here's another. A lot of stuff has happened, and even though things haven't been the greatest, I am VERY thankful for how lucky I have been.

A lot of my friends have been having a REAL hard time. Here's hoping things improve this year for all of you guys. You should be rewarded after all of that.

SUBJECT CHANGE~
Some of you are aware of why I haven't been responsive much as of late. But for those not in the know, I've been out of power on and off. Things look like they are going to stay and MAN, there are a lot of things I need to catch up with! 0_o; I hope you will forgive me if I don't answer everything!

It doesn't help that my email has seemed to stop working. Can anyone tell me what the hell this means?

Secure Connection Failed
login. live. com uses an invalid security certificate.

The certificate is not trusted because the issuer certificate has expired. The certificate will not be valid until 6/18/2008 5:00 PM.

(Error code: sec_error_expired_issuer_certificate)

* This could be a problem with the server's configuration, or it could be someone trying to impersonate the server.

* If you have connected to this server successfully in the past, the error may be temporary, and you can try again later.

Since when did anyone need a certificate for hotmail? Of course, I might have missed something, not being the most computer savvy human. If anyone knows what this means, I would LOVE to know. Because right now I can't get into my email. It also doesn't help that this 'certificate' won't be valid until 6/18/2008, which is already a time gone long past.

This happens on both Firefox and explorer but it seems it only happens on my computer. When I log on another comp, it lets me right in. So I think it's some sort of security thing.

So anyways, Happy New Year People!

EDIT:

I'm mildly brilliant, I solved the problem. In other news- OMFG, SAIYUKI IS NOW A MUSICAL. I was never interested in buying the anime, but the musical is a must. I will burn my eyes and kill my ears for the sake of hilarious irony.